


Painted Words

by inkblotches



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Friendship, Gen, I may have immediately gone off-course, This was supposed to be for Nathmarc November
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:15:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29850366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkblotches/pseuds/inkblotches
Summary: Marc and Marinette avoid an awkward situation and have a conversation over tea and cookies.
Relationships: Marc Anciel & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Painted Words

Marc Anciel was standing outside of the art room’s door, eyeing the placard that declared the room number 33.The door was only slightly ajar, and he could hear voices from within.He and Nathaniel had been working on their comics for a couple months by this time, and had completed a couple issues and were working on the third instalment.

He still worried at times that he didn’t quite belong in the art room, but none of the regulars ever made him feel like his art was less deserving of being in that safe creative space just because it wasn’t a visual art.He loved the afternoons spent in the art room, head bowed close with Nathaniel’s as they worked on their project together.

He hugged his purple notebook a little closer, frowning; today wouldn’t be one of those afternoons, because it wasn’t just the regulars in attendance.He looked up when he heard footsteps pounding down the hallway, eyes widening when he recognized Marinette. 

“Sorry, Nath,” he mumbled, quickly making up his mind.He rushed towards Marinette, catching her arm and steadying her when she nearly fell, startled.“Marinette! I was hoping I would catch you out here,” he hesitated.“I...”

“Marc?” She prompted, a concerned look overtaking her features after she’d regained her composure.“What’s the matter?”

“I need your help,” he confessed.“Not here, come on...”

“Of course,” she said immediately.Marinette was always willing to help any of her friends, a fact he took advantage of to lead her away from the art room.They made small-talk as they walked, and he realized at some point she’d taken the lead and was guiding him towards her parents’ bakery.

Once they were far enough from the school, he bit his lip, glancing at her.“I’m sorry, Marinette,” he said.“I, there’s no emergency.I just didn’t think you would want to go into the art room today.” 

“Why not?” she asked, frowning slightly.“I haven’t been able to go all week, I was looking forward to hanging out with everyone...”

“...Alix brought Lila with her today,” Marc sighed.“You always look so uncomfortable when she’s there.And I have to admit...” He looked up, meeting Marinette’s eyes.Her frown had fallen off, but she looked a little surprised.“I don’t like being there when she’s there either.Last time she kept saying she could send my writing to Neil Gaiman, and she keeps bugging us to write her into the comic because she’s Ladybug’s best friend but I just...” he sighed.“I’m sorry, but I’m the writer and yet she tells more fairy tales than I do.”

“Marc!” Marinette exclaimed, her eyes looking a little glassy.She threw her arms around him in an impromptu hug, and they almost both toppled over.“You... can tell? No one ever believes me when I say she’s not telling the truth,” she murmured in his ear before stepping back to give him an even look.

“It’s kind of obvious,” Marc said with a laugh.“It’s kind of insulting, really.If she’s going to lie to my face, she should at least do it well!”

“You’re my new favourite human,” Marinette declared.“You deserve pastries.We deserve pastries! Come on!” She grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a jog the rest of the way to the bakery.Once they were there, she led him inside through a side door, where she was able to nab a plate of fresh chocolate chip madeleines with a cheeky grin aimed at her father. 

“Welcome home, Marinette,” the big man said, giving her a kiss to her cheek and a quick floury hug. 

“Thank you, papa,” she replied, looking happy.“This is Marc, the smartest person in my entire school, and we’re celebrating a narrow escape from a fate worse than death,” she told him conspiratorially while Marc looked on, unsure of whether he should be embarrassed or confused.

“Another akuma?” Her father asked, eyebrows drawn together in concern.

“No, worse!” Marinette shook her head.“Lila! In the art room!”

M. Dupain laughed, patting her on the head.“Good job you two, now go enjoy your cookies, and be careful in the kitchen if you make tea!”

“We will,” she smiled up at him joyfully, and it struck Marc that he hadn’t seen that genuine smile of hers at school for quite some time.

“Thank you, M. Dupain,” Marc echoed her earlier thanks before following Marinette out of the bakery’s back room and up the stairs into their cozy apartment.

He set his backpack and notebook down by the sofa where Marinette indicated, then followed her into the kitchen to help get things ready to make tea.

“Your parents know about Lila?” he asked.

“How could they not?” she responded with a shrug.“She tried to get me expelled.She did get me expelled,” Marinette quickly corrected herself.

Marc frowned.“I didn’t hear about that.What happened?”

“For some reason she told them afterwards she was lying - but of course it wasn’t her fault, she has some sort of fake lying disease...” Marinette sighed.“We’re here to celebrate though, not that! She has our entire class fooled.”

“Even Nathaniel?” Marc asked, looking in the cupboard she indicated for teabags while she filled the kettle.“I thought it was odd he seemed agreeable to writing her into our comic... I had to talk him out of it.”

Marinette shook her head, going to the fridge to fetch cream for the tea.“Everyone except Adrien and I?” She said, sounding a little unsure.“And maybe Chloé, but she treats everyone like she hates them anyway, so I’m not sure.”

“Right,” Marc said with a sigh, leaning against the counter.“Well, I will talk to him later.”

Marinette treated him to another one of her sunny smiles.“Thank you.Just having you know the truth is such a weight off my shoulders.Everyone thinks I’m just jealous of her if I try to set them straight!”

Marc jumped a little when his phone buzzed in his pocket, before pulling it out.“Oops, I forgot to let Nathaniel know I wasn’t coming...” he mumbled, quickly typing out a reply to the message Nathaniel had just sent.

N: hey did you get lost on the way to the art room?

M: No, sorry! I forgot to tell you I couldn’t make it today!

N: ok, no problem

N: can we video chat later to go over things then?

M: Of course! I wouldn’t miss it!

Satisfied, Marc slid his phone back into his pocket and turned his attention back to Marinette, who was just returning the kettle to its perch after pouring hot water into their two cups.

“Now, why on earth would your class think you’re jealous of Lila?” he asked, eyebrows drawn together in confusion.“I mean, you’ve literally done cooler stuff than the stories I’ve heard her make up... If anything, isn’t she jealous?”

Marinette shrugged helplessly.“She likes to make excuses to hang off of Adrien...” She gave a small smile, but this one was bitter, and didn’t suit Marinette at all.“I guess I have a history of acting irrationally around him.”

Marc scoffed.“You also have a habit of apologizing afterwards if you do anything rash,” he said, waving it off.“No one’s perfect.”He tiled his head curiously.“But seriously, most of the people she brags about knowing don’t know as many people as she brags about knowing.Are your classmates just blind?”

Marinette looked down at her toes.“I don’t know.I thought they knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t behave badly - at least not this long! - out of jealousy... At least, some of them should!” She glanced up at Marc, hints of frustration showing in her expression.“I only met Alya this year, but I’ve known almost everyone else for years!”

Marc nodded thoughtfully.“That’s got to be hard to deal with...” he trailed off, then busied himself for a moment adding sugar and milk to his tea.“If you ever want to just escape from it all, during lunch or a break or whatever, you can come find me.I’m always hanging out with Nathaniel, or off by myself somewhere, but,“ he gave her a small grin, “you know my usual spot!”

“I do,” Marinette smiled back at him.“I’d like that, we haven’t hung out much lately.”

Marc nodded decisively.“I’ll talk to Nath about the whole Lila thing, and let you know how it goes! Is there... anything else I should know about her?” He added, seeing Marinette looking a little hesitant.

“She maybe...” Marinette chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, “kinda sorta threatened me?” Seeing his alarm, she quickly waved her hands in front of her, eyes wide.“Not physically! Just... threatened to take all my friends away! Because I didn’t believe her and tried to call her on her lies...” She sighed.“Just, be careful? I’m not looking for anyone else to put themselves in her crosshairs too, it’d just be nice to have some friends who aren’t thinking the worst of me...”

Marc frowned.“I would never...” He gave a rueful sigh.“At least, not when I’m not akumatized... have I apologized to you about that lately?”

“Only every time we message!” Marinette gave him a gentle shove.“I don’t care about that, which _I’ve_ told _you_ every time!”

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this for NathMarc November, but as you can see I immediately went off-course. I have no control, the characters do what they want! The NathMarc November prompt-list was created by @ASingleRaindrop here on AO3, and I may or may not write more (and actually try to get to the point of actually including both Marc and Nath...).
> 
> Anyway, the first prompt was “your favourite colour”, which is in my case purple!
> 
> I may change the work title and add/edit tags as needed in the future.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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